The light sensitivity of mercury compounds has long been recognized. Mercury salts of halogens, especially iodine, have been the subject of intense investigations which have formed the basis for fade-out imaging and imaging based upon the formation of colloidal mercury. Further work has shown that mixtures of mercurous iodide salts with silver iodide forms an extremely light sensitive system. The mercury metal catalysis of thermal decompositions of silver oxalate and mercurous oxalates have also been reported.
The light sensitivity of selenium and tellurium containing compounds and benzyldiselenide (BDS) was reported by C. L. Jackson in Justus Liebigs Ann. Chem., 179, 1 (1875) to photodecompose. Chu et al have reported in J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 97, 4905 (1975) that the primary photoproducts of the photolysis of BDS in solution at room temperature are dibenzylselenide and selenium atoms.
The use of metal chalcogenide systems as imaging materials has been reported by Shimizu et al. in Phot. Sci. and Eng., 16, 291 (1972). In these systems, metal layers deposited on the surface of chalcogenides were "photo-doped" into the chalcogenide resulting in changes in optical density in the light struck areas.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel microimaging film of a polymeric matrix containing an organochalcogen and an organomercury compound.
An additional object is to provide such a film which when exposed in an imagewise manner produces images of high density and good resolution.
A further object is to provide a method for imaging such a film.